PRESS

“Its ability to shine a prism on common beer styles such as the IPA and Saison and fill a portfolio with brews that are so full of personality is astounding. The IPAs are soft and hazy, dank West Coast, or dry and brutey; the wild IPA is foeder-aged with expressive trois yeast. On the Saison side, it’s a rainbow trip into what beer is capable of becoming.”

GUNWHALE ALES MISSION STATEMENT, OUR BEER OF THE WEEK! - oc weekly

“Mission Statement is a love letter to French oak and peaches. The beer looks like peach-juice from foggy fruit pectins…the head dissipating into thin air as its poured. On the nose is a two-lane street of oaky-vanilla and fuzzy peach skin with bits of tropical funk from the Brettanomyces yeast.”

RELAXING IN STYLE IN COSTA MESA -- YOLO TX

"The Hop-Forward, Yeast-Driven Suds of Gunwhale Ales: What the Ale!" -- Oc WEEKLY

"Home brewers with a passion for life that equals their passion for beer, friends Justin Miller, JT Wallace and Bobby Fitzgerald say their goal is to merge the great-tasting farmhouse style with the hop-forward West Coast IPA for a hybrid they call Coastal Ales."

"Nagel’s Best O.C. Beers of 2017" -- ORANGE COAST MAGAZINE

"...the Gunwhale guys came out of the gate with several pale-farmhouse style saisons, each of which instantly got my attention. Although all of them are completely different, Majordomo did it all for me."

"Loaded to the Gunwhales at Year One" -- Orange coast magazine

"It’s fairly uncommon when a brewery makes great beer right out of the gate. It’s even rarer when you find one that gets better with every beer you try. Compound that with a year of solid releases, and you’ve got something truly extraordinary…"

"The 10 best breweries to get craft beer in Orange County" -- Oc register

"Not far from the Lab and the Camp, you’ll find this smallish, stripped-down but sleek gem. There aren’t any upholstered stools or chairs, but there’s an attempt at decor, with white subway tiles, nautical touches and hanging ferns..."

"Best Winter Beers In Orange County" -- CBS LOS ANGELES

"Gunwhale’s unique seasonal ale Wolfbait is perhaps their greatest offering. The beer begins with a dark farmhouse base that is fermented in an oak foeder and Saccharomyces Brux Trois yeast. The final product is a delightful dance of sour cherries and gingerbread spice that makes you yearn for a roaring fire and bearskin rug."

"EPISODE #118" -- BREW BLOODS PODCAST

"Two co-founders from Gunwhale Ales in Costa Mesa, California join Marc to talk about what a coastal ale is, how hard it is to stand out in a mature beer market, and how three co-founders make a business work without butting heads."

"[S4/E40] Gunwhale Ales, Brah!" -- FOUR BREWERS PODCAST

"Ok, I’ll spare you the poor impersonation of a mid-1980’s surfer. Gunwhale Ales is fairly new to Orange County craft beer scene, but they’re already making some bodacious waves—sorry. I said I would stop. Ok. Gunwhale Ales has been open less than a year, and they’re already making a splash—damnit. Ok. Gunwhale Ales is making some rad beer…ugh. I give up."

"[S4/E39] It’s Always Sunny In Orange County" -- FOUR BREWERS PODCAST

"Craft and Independent brewery numbers are at an all-time high, and the variety of beer available to beer drinkers is simply amazing. This week, we’re hanging out in our proverbial backyard and drinking some brew from sunny Orange County, California."

"What Beer Taught Me About Business" -- article from writing stiles

"For Gunwhale Ale’s co-founder Bobby Fitzgerald branding is about authenticity – what is OC known for, and how is that reflected in the beers they offer? They sought to capture the sense of the region and reinforce a sense of place through a culinary-driven, locally-sourced approach."

The Experience: Gunwhale Ales (Costa Mesa, CA) -- the EPISODIC EATER

"Next up was my favorite of the night, the Old Rackatee, and Amarillo a single hopped, saison with farro. If you read most of my work, you know I geek-out over complexity in beer, this Old Rackatee embodied just that. On the nose was mostly citrus hopped notes from the Amarrillo, true to that hop’s profile of course. It smelled just like I was about to dive into a west coast ipa, I was wrong. "

"Gunwhale Ales beer balances nautical and nice" -- los angeles times

"Highly nuanced, wine-like beers like Gunwhale's are usually found on the outer fringes of the beer industry, made by small operations like Monkish in Torrance or as part of nerdy side projects that, with barrels stacked to the sky, look more akin to wineries (see: Bruery Terreux and Beachwood Blendery). If you want the beers at home, you'll normally have to buy them in a large-format wine bottle with a cork and cage top that elevates the product even more.

"He pointed to the bar of finished wood, more than 100 years old, found in Old Towne Orange. Adding to the rustic decor were hanging ferns. Mounted on the wall was an antelope head, and nearby were tools a lumberjack, sailor or farmer might use: a pitchfork, saw, ropes with various knots. Outside, the patio was dotted with tree trunks being used as tables."